El Cajon targets liquor sales

EL CAJON  The city is starting to crack down on the sale of alcohol at liquor stores and markets, purchases described as “off-site sales.”

City Councilman Gary Kendrick led the way on Tuesday, speaking out on his initiative to direct city staff to conduct “a full review of the city’s current policies and ordinances pertaining to liquor sales.”

The council voted unanimously in favor, including the possible use of an ordinance that would allow the city to penalize existing businesses that are determined to be creating a public nuisance. The ordinance would work together with a conditional use permit.

City Manager Doug Williford said a report would be brought back in six weeks.

Kendrick reminisced about coming to the city when he was a child and seeing very few liquor stores and even fewer homeless. He talked about the current issues of “serial inebriates,” the selling of alcohol to underage people in El Cajon and the proliferation of stores selling alcohol in the city.

“The city has been struggling with this issue for 30 years now,” Kendrick said. “We have never really had a major overhaul of our alcohol-related policies.

“This city has never been shy looking after the health of its citizens. We had no smoking in restaurants before the state did. I think we need to continue to be in the forefront.”

In his report to the council, Kendrick noted that the state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has “alerted the city that we have an overconcentration of off-site sale liquor licenses for a city this size and they consequently have placed El Cajon into a ‘moratorium’ category.” Off-site sale means the liquor is intended to be consumed away from the store where it was purchased.

Kendrick said he wants the city to look at a type of ordinance that would be new to the county, a “deemed-approved ordinance.”

A deemed-approved ordinance, as it relates to alcohol sales, is used in nearly two dozen cities in California. It would make existing alcohol outlets accountable to a set of performance standards.

If an outlet does not comply with the ordinance’s standards and poses a nuisance, it may be reported to the city and the Police Department. Typically, an outlet would have to comply with rules that control disturbing the peace, illegal drug activity, public drunkenness, public consumption of alcoholic beverages, harassment of passers-by, gambling, prostitution, sale of stolen goods, public urination, theft, assault, battery, vandalism, littering, loitering, graffiti, illegal parking, loud noises, traffic violations, curfew violations, lewd conduct or police detentions and arrests.

Outlets that fail to comply after being asked to abate the nuisance are required to apply for a conditional use permit and can then have conditions placed on their city business permit. The city ultimately can revoke the permit if the business fails to comply.

Kendrick likened the ordinance to the city’s tobacco license ordinance, which was passed eight years ago. “We’ve reduced sale of tobacco to kids from 43 percent (of stores selling) to less than 1 percent of stores,” Kendrick said. “That is a spectacular success. It worked for tobacco, it will work for alcohol. El Cajon needs to have the reputation that we are really tough on selling to serial inebriates and to children.”